Full report: Former Hampton lieutenant sues ex-police chief, major

James Crotts sues former high-ranking officers, alleging defamation

HAMPTON — A former police lieutenant is suing two former high-ranking officials in the Hampton Police Division, accusing them of trying to make him the "fall guy" in an undercover cigarette operation run by the department.

Lt. James R. Crotts, who retired in April 2012, is suing former Police Chief Charles R. Jordan Jr. and former police Maj. Edward Lattimore III for $3.85 million, asserting that they made false statements about him, tarnishing his reputation and making it difficult for him to land a job elsewhere.

The allegations in the lawsuit, filed in Hampton Circuit Court, also provide new descriptions of the undercover cigarette operation and its aftermath.

City officials have kept mum on many of the details into the undercover cigarette sting, as multiple investigations into the operation — both its financial transactions and broader concerns — are under way. The reviews followed an investigative series by the Daily Press into the tobacco operation.

In the lawsuit, Crotts, 52, of Isle of Wight, contends that he filed his retirement notice eight days before being placed on administrative leave, and that his decision to retire was completely unrelated to the cigarette case or the misconduct allegations against him.

But he claims in the lawsuit that Jordan and Lattimore twisted things to make it appear that he was stepping aside as a result of issues surrounding the Blue Water Tobacco cigarette operation.

"Defendants Jordan and Lattimore, and others, attempted to portray plaintiff's prior existing plans to retire to make such plans seem motivated by allegations of misconduct during the undercover churning operation," according to the suit filed by attorney Stephen Forbes.

The defamation suit claims that an effort to misportray Crotts' retirement was designed to make him "a fall guy for gross errors in judgment by others, including but not limited to defendant Jordan."

Rumors & allegations

The suit asserts that Jordan, 56, and Lattimore, 51, talked badly about Crotts to other officers within the Hampton Police Division. The suit claims, for example, that Jordan told "Lattimore and others" that Crotts and others involved in the operation would be "transferred, fired or would be going to jail."

According to the suit, Crotts asked one officer where he had heard such talk, and the officer replied: "You know, the group (also known as "the family") — Lattimore. I'm not a part of 'the group.'"

After Jordan requested a State Police investigation into the case early last year, the suit maintains, Lattimore went to another officer and told him: "If the Virginia State Police did not charge or prosecute Crotts (and others), then they don't know how to prosecute a case. He is guilty."

The lawsuit claims that Crotts continued to hear rumors from other officers about himself, as well as two other officers in the undercover cigarette operation, Maj. Randy Seals and Cpl. Christopher Lyon.

Among those statements, according to the suit: "Seals, Crotts and Lyon are screwed! They are going to be locked up over the tobacco case! They will be going to jail!"

While Crotts retired in April 2012, Seals and Lyon — who were also initially put on leave as part of the internal investigation into the misconduct allegations — are both back at work. Lyon went back on active duty last July, while Seals, one of the department's highest-ranking officers, returned to work on Jan. 1, after about 10 months on leave.

Jordan could not be reached on Wednesday, but his lawyer, Tim Clancy, said he spoke with Jordan and that Jordan declined to comment. Clancy said that while he has seen a copy of the suit, it has not yet been served on Jordan.

"It would be inappropriate for me to comment on a lawsuit that has not yet been served," Clancy said. "It's not a live suit, so it's a nothing. There's nothing to defend, and nothing to respond to."

Lattimore, who retired from the department on Jan. 1 after more than 30 years of service, did not return a phone message left Wednesday at his Newport News home. Crotts did not return a phone call left Wednesday at his home in Smithfield, while his lawyer, Forbes, has not returned several phone calls in recent days left at his Hampton office.

Looking for a mole

The suit also refers to a Daily Press article about the case, saying that Jordan approved a police spokesman providing to the newspaper the names of the three officers put on administrative leave in the case.

"It is unprecedented for the HPD to publicize the names of officers who are on administrative leave," the suit claims.

The lawsuit also cites text messages from Jordan to an unidentified police officer talking about the "mole" who they thought spoke with the Daily Press about the case. At one point, the suit says, Jordan told the other officer that Crotts could be talking, providing the following exchange of text messages: